Research
Data on the first-time
CTO experience.
We publish original research on what first-time CTOs actually face — synthesising public surveys, practitioner literature, and aggregated data from CTOCoach assessment completers. Free to read, free to cite with attribution.
From the latest report
Four headline findings from State of First-Time CTOs 2026. Full citations + chart-ready visuals on the press kit.
- 91%
- CTOs cite tech debt as #1 concern
- +68%
- Fractional executive demand YoY (2023 → 2024)
- 33%
- Of developer time goes to legacy maintenance
- 12-18mo
- Burnout pattern surveys are not yet capturing
Pipeline
What's published, what's landing, and what's on the annual refresh schedule.
Published — May 2026
State of First-Time CTOs 2026
Synthesis of six surveys (STX Next, Deloitte, Stack Overflow, CAST, Fortium, CTO Craft) plus practitioner literature. Four cross-survey patterns: board-vs-codebase shift, commercial literacy as weekly discipline, fractional comparison anxiety, identity loss.
Read the full report →Pipeline — late 2026, gated on primary-data N≥80
What 500 first-time CTOs got wrong in month one
Second asset, pulled from CTOCoach assessment-completer dataset + first-time-CTO survey responses. First-person frame focused on the specific tactical mistakes that recur in the first 30-90 days.
Annual refresh — May 2027
State of First-Time CTOs 2027
Updated synthesis + first cut of CTOCoach primary data (assessment completers + survey respondents, target N ≥ 200). Year-over-year tracking on tech debt, fractional dynamics, AI trust, and isolation patterns.
Research approach
We synthesise publicly available surveys, practitioner literature, and aggregated data from CTOCoach assessment completers. Citations are ground-truthed against source documents on every refresh; corrections are filed within 48 hours of receipt.
Where survey-reported figures span multiple years, we cite the most recent confirmed value. Cross-source statistics use combined definitions noted inline.
Excerpts up to 300 words and all charts are free to reproduce with credit to CTOCoach · State of First-Time CTOs 2026. Editorial enquiries, additional citations, and tailored data cuts: research@ctocoach.com.
Want a copy when the next report lands?
Email the editorial team. One send per report — no newsletter, no list-renting, no upsell.
research@ctocoach.com